NFL Sunday Recap - QBs: Rookies and Backups Make the Day

It was a tough day to be a QB this week, mostly:

A Tale of Two Rookies:
Mark Sanchez
The guy the Jets are banking their future on looked like a rookie for the third time this year. His 4 picks are only second to the five he threw against Buffalo, and getting strip-sacked late in the game pretty much sealed the deal for the Pats this week. He did have an impressive touchdown throw, but his mistakes doomed the Jets from the start. He finished the first half with 2 completions and 2 INTs.

Matthew Stafford
Going into this weekend, the Lions-Browns game looked like the worst game of the day/year/ever. With the Browns quickly up 24-3, the game looked over in the first quarter. Then, Stafford showed why he was the first overall pick in the Draft this year. He threw 2 INTs in the game, but he also had 5 TDs and 422 passing yards. Finally, with the game on the line, no time on the clock, trailing by six at the 1-yard line, and throwing with a bad shoulder, Stafford completed a pass to Brandon Pettigrew that gave the Lions a 38-37 win. We don't know yet what the extent of Stafford injury is, but his performance in this one will go down as one of the NFL's greatest.


Backups are Backups for a Reason:
Charlie Batch
With the game on the line in OT, and Ben Roethlisberger on the sideline with a concussion, Batch was called on to win the game. Batch couldn't do it. He completed one pass for 17 yards, but the Steelers were forced to punt. The Chiefs got the ball at their own 20, and the game ended on 22-yard field goal five plays later. Now Batch will be out 6 weeks with a wrist injury that requires surgery, and third-string QB Dennis Dixon may have to play next week against Baltimore.

Chris Simms
To call Simms ineffective would be an understatement. In three possessions, he wa scalled on to pass six times. He was 2/4 for 10 yards and was sacked twice, losing a fumble on his first pass play. Kyle Orton had to limp into the game to take his place, but by then the Broncos were already down 13-0, and could only manage a 3rd quarter field goal.

Matt Leinart
With Kurt Warner another victim of a possible concussion, Leinart had to cover for him in the second half. With the team already up 21-3, really he just had to manage the game, and not screw up too badly. Of the three backups here, he performed the best, going 10/14, but only getting 74 yards. He didn't need to be the hero, and he didn't try to be, as the Cardinals mostly ran the ball in the 4th quarter. They didn't score while he was in the game, but they did hold on for the 21-13 win.

Another QB Who Deserves Mention:
Brady Quinn
In the Lions 38-37 thrillride win, one thing that's being mentioned but is still underscored by Staffords performance is the play of Brady Quinn. Yes, both players were going against terrible defenses, but Quinn has largely had a mistake-filled year. He also had only 3 career TDs going into this game. His stats measure up pretty closely with Staffords, though. He threw no picks, had a bit more than 100 yards less than Stafford, and only one less TD. Lets hope this is a sign of things to come for someone once thought of as the future of Cleveland.

Rookie Roundup: Using a complex scoring system to rank two major rookies for the season

Mark Sanchez: 8/21, 136 yards, 1 TD, 4 INT, 2 sacks, 2 rush yards, 1 fumble, 1 lost
Points: -17, 46.75 overall

Matthew Stafford: 26/43, 422 yards, 5 TDs, 2 INTs, 1 sack, 7 rush yards, 1 fumble
Points: 34.8, 84.45 overall

Week 11 Winner: Stafford

What Have We Learned?: Three things we can take away from this weekend
Bad teams can have great football games
The Browns-Lions game could easily be game of the year when it looked like it would be terrible. The game was actually blacked-out in Detroit, so not many people outside of Cleveland even got to see it. Its games like this that make NFL Sunday Ticket such a great package to have.

Don't sleep on the Redskins
I wrote about it on Tuesday, and again on Saturday: the Redskins are secretly a good team. Last week they beat Denver. This week, it took a late Dallas TD to give the 'Skins a squeaker loss. Their defense is good. If they can put together a solid offense, they can make a run. They still won't make the playoffs at this point, but it could set them up to be a contender next year.

The Saints can clinch!
Along with the Colts, the Saints are undefeated at 10-0. The second place team, Atlanta, is 5-5. If Atlanta loses to Tampa Bay on Sunday, the Saints would only need to beat New England on Monday night to clinch their division. Is it going to be easy? No. Obviously the Bucs aren't very good, so Atlanta should win. Also, the Pats are obviously very good, so a win on Monday isn't guaranteed. But its a possibility, so its noteworthy.